The surge in troops and firepower has been centered on the region of Zaporizhzhia, a Western official said late Wednesday.
The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.Ukraine deploys Western-supplied advanced weaponsUkrainian officials have been mostly silent about battlefield developments since they began early counteroffensive operations, though Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said troops are advancing toward the city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhizhia region.
Ukrainian servicemen sit in a German-made self-propelled anti-aircraft during a training exercise on Wednesday.They envisioned a counteroffensive that would try to punch through the land corridor between Russia and the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula, moving towards Melitopol, which is close to the coast of the Azov Sea.
The Institute of Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported that Ukrainian forces launched “a significant mechanized counteroffensive operation in western Zaporizhzhia region” on Wednesday, adding that they “appear to have broken through certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positions.” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a visit to Papua New Guinea that Kyiv’s effort to retake land seized by Russia since its February 2022 full-scale invasion would be “tough” and “long,” with successes and setbacks.
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